Amazon shipped my order yesterday; they say that it'll arrive on November 12.

Mine was shipped this morning, with an estimated arrival date of November 7. They usually overshoot their estimation and parcels are most often delivered from the UK to Canada 2-4 days earlier than they say. However, if the planned rotating strikes at Canada Post start tomorrow as scheduled, who knows how it will go this time.

The William Castle box set has not shipped yet, although both of these titles are listed as "in stock", contrary to what happened with the Indicator releases in late August.

Last edited by Florinaldo on Sun Oct 21, 2018 11:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Well, Amazon UK moves in mysterious ways that are beyond the understanding of mere mortals like me.

Meanwhile, this title is now listed as "Usually dispatched within 5 to 7 days", meaning they are waiting for new stock. They list it as #12 in DVD & Blu-Ray sales, #1 in Thriller, #1 in Horror, and #2 in Blu-Ray. So it is selling briskly on that site. No indication yet from Powerhouse of how close they may be to selling out and it becoming OOP.

ETA: The listing has now been updated to "Usually dispatched within 1 to 3 months". Which may yet unpredictably change.

Last edited by Florinaldo on Tue Oct 23, 2018 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Received my copy (bought direct from Indicator) this evening, only one day after the official release date despite being 5,000 miles outside the home market. Packaging looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to dive into it.

So received two copies today One from Amazon that I forgot to cancel and the other direct from Indicator. The latter included a carte de visite from Julian Karswell.
I think I know which one I will be passing on to some poor unsuspecting victim

I would love for someone to do an edit of this movie that excised the demon shots that Tourneur loathed. I think he's right in that making it obvious that the demon is real from the very first scene really detracts from the suspense. Otherwise, the build-up and ambiguity is really stellar. The quick shots of the (different) demon on the train tracks at the end are all that's necessary.

connor wrote:I would love for someone to do an edit of this movie that excised the demon shots that Tourneur loathed. I think he's right in that making it obvious that the demon is real from the very first scene really detracts from the suspense. Otherwise, the build-up and ambiguity is really stellar. The quick shots of the (different) demon on the train tracks at the end are all that's necessary.

It’s one thing to say it, quite another to try it - and it really doesn’t work. You need to substitute what Tourneur claimed to have wanted to do instead, and even if that footage was ever shot, it no longer survives.

connor wrote:I would love for someone to do an edit of this movie that excised the demon shots that Tourneur loathed. I think he's right in that making it obvious that the demon is real from the very first scene really detracts from the suspense. Otherwise, the build-up and ambiguity is really stellar. The quick shots of the (different) demon on the train tracks at the end are all that's necessary.

It’s one thing to say it, quite another to try it - and it really doesn’t work. You need to substitute what Tourneur claimed to have wanted to do instead, and even if that footage was ever shot, it no longer survives.

So I know very little about this film but ordered it as a blind-buy based purely on the enthusiasm for it in this and other forums. I think it arrived today and I'd like to watch it before October is over. Trying to avoid spoilers, can someone suggest which version would make the most ideal first viewing and with which aspect ratio?

We also do not know to what extent Tourneur really was betrayed or pressured by the producer since some of his post-hoc reservations are contradicted by the fact that the demon's apparitions were present in the initial script, which he of course saw and presumably accepted before the shoot even though his personal preference may have been for fewer glimpses of the creature. My impression, mainly from Earnshaw's book, is that when he realised these scenes were not all executed equally well, he may have decided to put some distance between him and the film, wishing to give himself some artistic cover.

I expect the bonus material will cover that issue, especially if more information has come to light since the book was first published.

just want to say "thanks" and "wow" to those responsible for this edition, which is probably the most lavish and thoughtful package for what is essentially a cult film I've ever owned. I appreciate the wide swath of interviews and other material used to put together the booklet, including the unpublished(?) V.F. Perkins program note. it's easy to forget how recent the films he and his Movie compatriots chose for that series were at the time. I know that in many respects they were taking cues (in terms of which directors to pay attention to) from the French critics, but I think Perkins in particular bested any of the Cahiers bunch in the precision and insight of his observations. anyway, thanks again!

I'll add my voice to all of the positive feedback on this release and the excellent work done by all who contributed in putting the whole package together. I have had it for a few weeks now but thanks to a series of business trips, I have only had time to do a quick sample in order to make sure that it works and to assess the excellent image quality on the restoration and to listen to about 5 minutes of the commentary. Even the poster, a type of extra I care little for, was printed on sturdy heavy paper, showing how much care went into planning the whole thing. It does look like it should stand as the definitive treatment of this movie for quite some time. My only quibble regarding the packaging would be that, I assume because of the constraints of their printer's templates for smaller size boxes, there is no wraparound band but a folded flap, held by some sticky tape. These things always eventually get unstuck and misplaced, but thankfully this one can be folded and stored inside the cardboard box with the rest of the material, jutting out only slightly.

I was looking over the descriptions of the LE and SE versions on the PowerHouse site to confirm to a colleague that the disc content is identical, when I noticed a slight difference bewteen the two listings. The LE description is missing the Michael Hordern reading and the Hal Chester interview. They are also omitted on the box, but are mentioned on the reversible sleeve (and are indeed on the disc).

it is reassuring to see that even PowerHouse can, like us, get overwhelmed at times by the abundance of extras they gather for many of their releases, especially as some may be added in the later stages of the process and after some material has already been sent to the printer.

Last edited by Florinaldo on Sat Dec 15, 2018 11:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

Both of those were indeed added after the box had gone to print - an occasional occupational hazard in this business. In fact, for various reasons the Michael Hordern piece was dropped in at almost the very last minute.

(Sleeves and discs tend to go to print/reproduction at the same time, so coordinating their contents is easy, but special packaging normally has to be signed off a few weeks earlier.)